There was a heightened police presence at Fairfield Union High School Thursday after Belville was alerted to a rumor that a student threatened the school a day earlier.

Belville began investigating around 5 p.m. on Wednesday and tracked down two high school students where the rumor originated. Belville later determined there was no basis for the threat.

Two students were talking in English class about shooter Nikolas Cruz killing 17 students at his former high school in Florida Feb. 14. One of them was sympathizing with the shooter saying the school and others should have done more to help him.

"There was no actual threat," Belville said. "It was more of a discussion about the shooter."

Belville contacted the Fairfield County Sheriff's Office, which sent deputies to the student's home for a one-on-one conversation and to determine if there was access to guns in the home.

Belville sent out a message to parents around 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday to notify them of the rumor and that there was no threat.

To put people at ease, and out of an abundance of caution, Belville requested additional deputies at the school on Thursday.

By 9 a.m., Belville was notified of another threat that was posted on a fake Facebook account. The threat was generic and did not name any school in the post. Regardless, the schools were put on lockdown or "secure mode" until police officials could determine its validity.

"We just assumed it had been directed at us because of the last 24 hours," Belville said.

Teaching continued throughout the 30-minute lockdown. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security became involved and reportedly told Belville that they had been trying to track down the individual behind the account for about a week.

Another Fairfield County high school, Pickerington North, was on lockdown Thursday morning while a possible threat was investigated, but it was later discovered to be unfounded.